Martinus: Livets Bog, vol. 5, sect. 1614

1614. The same tendency thus reveals that the innermost essence of the individual perceives Nature around it not as a dead mass that has emerged by chance, but as a living centre, as a kind of being. But the true nature of this living centre or being is beyond the comprehension of the as-yet uninitiated human being. And in actual fact it feels no need of initiation, that is to say, cosmic clear-sightedness or the cosmic analysis of Providence that is a consequence of this, which it is completely unable to understand with its present level of intellectuality. It must, however, find an explanation that satisfies its psyche and that answers the burning question arising from its inherent tendency with regard to Providence. The result of this is then that the above-mentioned being begins to create its own view of Providence in its own image, that is to say, in the image of the primitive terrestrial human being. It perceives Providence as invisible or spiritual living beings behind all forms of movement. It sees a spirit behind the force of the storm and the surf; it sees a spirit in trees and bushes, in lightning and thunder, in the sun and the moon, and so on; in brief, it imagines living, directing forces behind every manifest force of Nature. The terrestrial human being began very early on to distinguish between these forces, and perceived them as "good" and "evil". The forces of "evil" were thought to form the basis for everything that produced unhappiness and difficulties for people, while the forces of "good" were thought to form the basis for everything that promoted happiness, joy and blessing for these very same beings. While the forces of "evil" were called, among other things, "devils", the forces of "good" were in like manner called "gods". And with this attitude the terrestrial human being had for the time being sufficient explanation of life's great main question. This explanation of the cause of "evil" and "good" in the world was analogous to what they themselves experienced in their daily lives. They of course experienced "evil" people (their enemies) and "good" people (their friends). That any mental state or any life could be formed without "friendship" and "hostility" as its two major characteristics was inconceivable to the primitive terrestrial human being. It was thus a matter of course that these two characteristics, experienced as they were in the life of the living being, had to be the main material or basic substance of the idea or notion of Providence that this primitive human being was bound to create. Providence, that is to say the forces of "good", was from a mental point of view modelled exclusively on the terrestrial human being, equipped and embellished with all the phenomena and characteristics that were perceived as ideals by the human being of that time, while the forces of "evil" were equipped with all the horrors and atrocities of physical and mental darkness that the same human being's imagination could grasp. That there was war between the forces of "evil" and "good", between "gods" and "devils", was naturally a matter of course. On the step existing at that time, one could not possibly imagine a state in which this was not the case. What grounds could such a death-dealing, murderous, belligerent being as the terrestrial human being give for another form of existence? It was completely excluded from having such material. The morality of these people was in fact the well-known morality of killing, whose reverberations we know from our Nordic mythology, with the home of the gods, "Valhalla", as the centre and home of a number of "good" gods. From here they led the battle against their enemies, the "giants".